


Of Second Chances and Life's Changes

by Guildenstern



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Episode Related, Family, Friendship, Gen, Ramon Brothers spending time together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-05-25 15:26:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6200590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guildenstern/pseuds/Guildenstern
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cisco and Dante spend some time together while working on their mother's birthday present. Starts right after 1x18.<br/>(Or: Cisco's life outside of STAR Labs)</p><p>This fic is a collection of episode tags and missing scenes for the last couple of episodes of season one of The Flash, centered around Cisco and Dante, but other characters will also appear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

_And, coincidently, I have been haunted by an equally formless dread, an apprehension as of some bygone but still imminent doom._

_– Clark Ashton Smith, "The Chain of Aforgomon"_

 

 

“You know something about this?” Cisco and Dante were looking for a birthday present for their mother. Usually they would each get something by themselves, but since Dante’s hands hadn’t quite healed yet and he shouldn’t use them unless absolutely necessary, he had asked his brother to help and accompany him. And Cisco, being responsible for his brother’s current state, couldn’t say no.

 

“About what?” Cisco asked distractedly, looking at his phone and scratching his neck where he had been stung by the bee. They had walked past a tech store with flat screens in the shop window and the local news was on, showing the Atom flying between buildings, followed by an almost indiscernible shadow. It had been dark already and even the Atom suit could barely be seen against the black background.

 

“That guy flying around in a metal suit. Is he one of your friends?” Cisco could hear the sarcasm in Dante’s voice and knew that it wasn’t a serious question but answered truthfully.

 

“Yeah, actually. I mean, we met just yesterday, but we get along great. He is a scientist and made the suit himself, he just needed some help with the tech.”

 

“Of course you know him. Why did I even ask?” Dante said.

 

“I don’t know, because you like hearing your own voice?” So being amicable wasn’t as easy as he had thought. And his brother hadn’t even been mean this time. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that.” He shrugged, “Old habits die hard I guess.”

 

Dante also shrugged and nodded, indicating that he understood since he was in the same position. “What’s that behind him?”

 

Cisco looked at the screen with a frozen shot of Ray and what could be described as a dark cloud behind him. “A swarm of killer bees.” Dante just raised an eyebrow as if to say ‘you serious?’ and Cisco had to agree that it sounded like something out of a bad Sci-Fi movie.

 

“So is he going to be solving crimes with the Flash?”

 

“No, he’s from Starling, and they have already left.”

 

“They? Are there more than one?”

 

“Ah, no. I meant his girlfriend. She’s actually the one we were friends with.” Mentioning Felicity made him think of yesterday night when he, Caitlin and Ray had come back to STAR Labs. As soon as they had entered the cortex she had wrapped her arms around him in a bone crushing hug and whispered, “I’m glad you’re ok. Thank you. You’re a really good friend.” He had blushed, not knowing what to say, because he was just as glad to have them as friends.

 

Felicity and Ray had left this morning and he had met up with Dante in the afternoon. They had walked along the busy street, looking at the shop windows and trying to find something their mother would like. It had already been half an hour and they hadn’t found anything. Not because they couldn’t agree on something, which Cisco had thought would become a problem, but because they had absolutely no idea what to get her.

 

“How about we give her vouchers?” Cisco opened his mouth to protest about how that was impersonal but Dante knew that he was going to say that and continued, “I don’t mean money, I mean like a favor. Like,… for instance you could give her computer instructions.”

 

“She knows how to use a computer.”

 

“Have you seen her write an e-mail? Or surf the Internet? It takes forever and she always asks the same questions, I swear. And she complains about the phone bill after talking to Aunt Leticia for hours and I have told her like a thousand times that there are other ways to talk to each other, like Skype or some app, but she wouldn’t listen and claims that it’s too complicated.”

 

“I don’t know. You could just do that, you’re home more often.”

 

“I know, but like I said, she doesn’t listen. Technology is your thing, maybe she will listen if it's coming from you.”

 

“I don't know, if you’ve already tried then I don't think it will work. She would just never use the voucher.”

 

“Then maybe we should just get her a laptop and make a Skype account for her and call Aunt Leticia and tell her to do the same and give it to her like that.”

 

“Why do we have to get a new laptop, don’t you guys have a computer?”

 

“It’s really old and broken, has been for some time now, but since they have never used it much they didn’t get a new one.”

 

“Sure, why not. Maybe I could even take one from STAR Labs, I’d have to ask Wells first though.” After the explosion they hadn’t needed all the equipment and had been able to sell most of it, but there were still a lot of computers or computer parts laying around in abandoned workshops and labs.

 

“That would be great. We could also copy music from her CDs to the laptop!” Dante seemed quite excited by their idea now but Cisco grimaced as a picture of their mother’s CD collection came to his mind.  

 

“That’s a lot of CDs. Didn’t you guys do that already with the old computer?” Dante nodded. “Then I’ll try to salvage that first.” After he had said that, Cisco realized that he would have to do most of the work while his brother just had to wait for him to deliver the laptop. For a moment he thought that this was his brother’s intent all along, but dismissed it immediately. If he had asked, Cisco would have probably taken a look at his hands and said yes anyway, no matter the question.

 

He hated this whole situation they were in. He felt guilty for putting Dante in danger, for having caused him pain, for the state of his hands. Every time he saw them he thought of what could have been and the thought filled him with dread. If Dante really had lost the use of his hands his family would have blamed and hated him. It was so messed up, his brother has always treated him badly, yet he is the one trying to make amends.

 

“So, do you know any more of those, uhm…,” Dante started asking.

 

“Metahumans?” Cisco had been lost in thought and said the first thing that came to mind.

 

“No, I meant vigilantes. Or heroes, as some call them. I mean you know this guy from Starling City and you’re helping the Flash and I just wondered if maybe you know who the Arrow is as well.”

 

Cisco had to grin. “Maybe.” But his brother wasn’t grinning back or saying how cool it was, because Cisco certainly thought that it was.

 

“Do you help him as well? Do you go out there with them?”

 

“No, I mean I did upgrade his suite but I’ve only met him twice and I usually stay at STAR Labs and do the communications with Caitlin.” He had gone out into the field with John and Roy when he was in Starling. And yesterday. However his brother didn’t need to know that, he would just worry. More than he apparently already was. He did say usually though, so it wasn’t even lying.

 

“Usually?” But of course Dante had picked up on that. Cisco just shrugged and suddenly felt the urge to scratch his neck again but refrained from it. He looked around and saw that they were in front of a store that sold sweets and had a wide range of different chocolate brands on display and Cisco decided to stock up on his cocoa. Using this also as an excuse to escape the current conversation he pointed at the door and said that he would be right back before going in.

 

Ever since those dreams had started he had spent many nights awake in the kitchen of his small apartment with a mug of hot chocolate, which was why his supply had almost run out. When they had started he had thought that they were just nightmares, but they wouldn’t stop and then he started seeing them even when he was awake. They couldn’t be just normal nightmares, but if they weren't, then what was going on? What were they? Thinking about them made him uneasy and he was glad that he had told the others about it.

 

When he came out of the store he was carrying a huge bag, because how could he buy just the cocoa when they also had his favorite candies lying right there in front of him. Dante looked at the bag and shook his head in disbelief at the amount of candy his brother had just bought. Cisco took out a lollipop and offered it to him with a huge smile. Dante declined, so Cisco popped it into his mouth and turned into the direction from which they had come.

 

“So, who’s calling Aunt Leticia? Cause, you know, since I’ll be providing the laptop and trying to salvage the data from your old computer it would only be fair if you do it.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cisco needs some tools for the Canary Cry and heads to the Arrow cave only to run into Laurel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters 2 & 3 take place during 1x19, when Cisco is in Starling City. After that the focus will be on the brothers again.

_So two nights passed: the night’s dismay_

_Saddened and stunned the coming day._

_Sleep, the wide blessing, seemed to me_

_Distemper’s worst calamity._

_\- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Pains of Sleep”_

 

 

Captain Lance was on his way back to the police station while Joe and Cisco stayed behind to deal with the body. It would be getting dark soon and they had decided to go to a motel and stay the night once they were done.

 

By the time they had dug out the body and put it in Joe’s car it was already quite late. They checked in and Joe was the first to take a shower, which left Cisco alone in the room. He turned on the TV but didn’t really listen to the news as he took a closer look at the sonic device that Laurel had given him. He had brought a small tool box with him, but he didn’t think that it would suffice. He needed other things, like a soldering iron and a 3D printer.

 

Maybe Felicity had something at the Arrow cave. He was pretty sure that she and Oliver would be there. And he didn’t want to sleep anyway, especially not with Joe in the same room to witness him waking up from his nightmares.

 

After his turn he got out of the bathroom with still slightly damp hair and dressed in fresh clothes. Joe was lying in his bed watching the news and Cisco could see that he had almost fallen asleep. When Joe saw that he wasn’t wearing his PJs or getting into the other bed but packing stuff into a bag, he asked, “You planning on going somewhere?”

 

“Yeah, there’s something I need to take care of.”

 

“Has this something to do with Lance’s daughter?”

 

“Uhm yes, she asked if I could help her out with something. Can I take your car?”

 

“It’s late, why don’t you do this in the morning? We’ve got enough time, we don’t need to go back immediately tomorrow.”

 

“I know, but I was actually hoping to meet some friends and I don’t know if they would have time tomorrow morning.”

 

“They don’t mind that it’s so late? Wait, you wanna go see Oliver Queen and his vigilante friends, right?”

 

“Yeah, I know you don’t like him, but those news reports about him killing people are wrong, he wouldn’t do that, he would never shoot at Felicity. Someone is trying to frame him,” Cisco started defending him.

 

Joe sighed, the Arrow had helped them out when Barry had been affected by Bivolo last year and he’s his friend, but he was also a murderer. He still did not like that Barry was looking up to him.

 

“He is not such a bad guy, I know he doesn’t uphold the law, but he’s doing all those things for good reasons. The people he is after are dangerous,” Cisco tried to persuade him.

 

“I know, but I still don’t like it,” Joe replied. “And who is this other guy who is claiming to be the Arrow so that Oliver Queen could go free?”

 

“That’s Roy, he’s actually the guy in the red suit. I don’t know what is going on right now, which is another reason to go talk to them.” He had seen the latest TV reports and knew that Roy had let himself get caught in the green arrow outfit so that Oliver could be free. Cisco hoped that they had some kind of plan and that Roy wouldn’t go to prison for Oliver.

 

“So, can I have your car?” he asked. “I promise to bring it back in the same condition.”

 

“I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to drive around with a corpse in the trunk,” Joe said.

 

“No, but what could happen? If someone stole the car they would ditch it as soon as they saw what was in the trunk.”

 

“Maybe, but it would still cause some problems.”

 

“You’re right, I’ll take a cab.”

 

“Wait,” Joe got up and took the keys out of his jacket pocket and gave them to him. “Take the car. And be careful, this isn’t Central City.”

 

“Thanks, I will. But Starling isn’t so bad, I mean it’s nowhere near as crazy as Gotham.” He took the bag and the keys from Joe and headed out. “Don’t wait up,” he said, only half joking because even though he didn’t think that Joe would wait up for him, this situation made him feel like a kid again.

 

Joe turned off the TV and went back to bed, hoping that Cisco wouldn’t get into any trouble. He doubted that letting him go was the right decision, but Cisco wasn’t a child, and he especially wasn’t his child, he really had no right to tell him what to do. Yet he still didn’t like it.

 

This reminded him so much of all those nights when Barry and Iris had started going out with friends in the evening. He never could fall asleep while he knew that they were out there. He sighed and tried to calm his nerves. _He’s an adult and not your kid. He’ll be fine, what could happen?_ He groaned and hoped that he hadn’t just jinxed it.

 

In the car Cisco entered the destination into the navigation system and adjusted the seat. He turned on the radio and drove to the night club, taking in all the buildings and streets, trying to memorise the route. The streets were mostly empty, the only light coming from the street lamps and lit up store windows.

 

The closer he got to Verdant, the more desolate the streets grew and only the light of the street lamps remained, throwing long shadows. He parked near the back entrance and got out of the car.

 

He could’ve called them, but decided to just waltz in like Felicity. Make a grand entrance. On his way to the back door of the night club uncertainty overcame him. What if they had changed the code? Or no one was there? Maybe he should call Felicity after all. He stopped in front of the entrance and typed the code in. The door wouldn’t open. He took out his phone, looking for Felicity’s number.

 

“What do we have here? Someone trying to brake in?” he heard a woman say behind him. He jumped in surprise, a scream almost escaping his lips. That would have been embarrassing, because as he turned around he saw that it was Laurel. In her Black Canary outfit. And she was standing right in front of him, arms crossed and a bemused look on her masked face.

 

“I was just,… I thought I would see if someone is in the Arrow cave, I need some things for the…,” he held up the bag containing the sonic device she had given him in one hand and pointed with the other at it.

 

“The Arrow cave?” she laughed.

 

“Yeah, don’t you call it that?” He asked as she entered the code and they walked in.

 

“Well, I’m still new at this, but I don’t think that’s what they are calling it.” She turned on the lights and they walked down the stairs leading to the hideout.

 

“Hm, I guess the name didn’t stick,” he said.

 

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to call it the Quiver since he’s, you know, the Arrow?” she asked.

 

“I guess,” was all he said, not happy that his suggestion had been disregarded.

 

“And you were just gonna go in?”

 

“Yeah, I thought I would surprise everyone like Felicity did last week at STAR Labs. I mean, I don’t mind them just showing up but she could have called beforehand, what if no one had been there?”

 

“Like now you mean?”

 

“Yeah, I should have called to see if someone was here.”

 

“Well, I guess you are lucky that I was just coming back from patrol,” she said with a smile as they both stopped in front of an empty table and Cisco took out the sonic device. “How did you plan on getting in? Are you a hacker as well?”

 

“No, I thought maybe they haven’t changed the code since the last time I was here.”

 

“When was that?” she asked as she took off her mask and jacket. She started wiping the adhesive of the mask off her face.

 

“Sometime before Christmas. Felicity asked us to look at a DNA sample that could help them identify the Canary’s murderer.” Her hand stilled for a moment on her cheek before continuing to wipe at it, smearing some of her make-up while doing so. “I’m sorry. I…,” he looked down at his hands, unsure of what to say. “I lost my oldest brother when I was younger,” he knew that it wouldn’t be any comfort to her to tell her that, but he wanted to convey that he understood what it was like. “It’s strange how I grew older while he will always stay the same age in my memory.” He didn’t know why he was telling her this, he didn’t even talk about this with Caitlin or Barry, but somehow he felt like, even though he had just met her the same day, she could relate the best to what it was like to lose a sibling.

 

As he looked up at her again he saw her nod subtly, looking at the cloth in her hands, “I know what you mean. This isn’t even the first time that we thought that she is dead. She was with Oliver on that ship seven years ago.”

 

He couldn’t imagine what it must have been like, getting her back, all the joy and happiness, only for it to be ripped away again. And yet, if he could see Armando again, even for just a moment, he would gladly pay any price.

 

He looked down at the device in his hands and put it down. “Do you know where Felicity keeps her tool kit?” he asked, changing the subject.

 

“Uhm, no. Maybe over there.” They walked into the back and to some shelves and drawers. Cisco felt like he was snooping around without permission, even though technically someone from the Arrow team was with him.

 

“So, where is everyone? I thought that with all that’s been going on everyone would be here.”

 

“They were just an hour ago. Oliver is with Thea, John is at home and Felicity is spending some time with her mother I think.”

 

“And what’s the plan? I mean, you can’t let Roy take the fall and go to prison. Oliver must have a plan, right?”

 

She sighed, “I don’t know what we are going to do, but we are working on it.” It wasn’t until now that he realised that the police officer who had revealed the Arrow’s identity on TV had been Captain Lance. He thought about asking her about it but decided not to. “I’m afraid that we won’t be able to stay here much longer, the police will probably be here soon with a search warrant,” she said.

 

Cisco nodded and looked around. It felt so empty and cold, completely different than the last time he was here, when it was filled with people. He didn’t find anything he could use and some of the drawers were locked and Laurel didn’t have a key.

 

“I think I’ll just go to Ray, he’ll probably have what I need.”

 

“Felicity’s boyfriend?”

 

“Yeah, he was in Central last week with her. Have you seen his suit?” he asked.

 

“No, but I’ve heard of it,” she said, remembering her father’s words just the other day. “Isn’t it a bit late?”

 

“Yeah, but he’s probably at Palmer Tech, we’ve stayed in contact so I know that he likes to work in his private lab until late in the night.” They had sent schematics of Ray’s suit back and forth at the oddest hours in the last few days trying to improve it, so he was pretty sure that Ray was in his office. But he would call first this time, just to be on the safe side. 

 

“Oh, hey, I was wondering if you could maybe do me a favour in return.”

 

“Sure. What is it?”

 

“Can I take a picture with you? But while you’re in your Black Canary suit?” He could see that she was about to object. “I have one with Barry in his suit as well, no one will see it, I swear. Maybe one day I’ll even convince Oliver take one with me.”

 

Laurel had to laugh at that thought, no way Oliver would do that. He saw her incredulous look. “I know what you think, but who knows, maybe one day he’ll mellow out. Besides, I almost got one of him and Barry the last time, but Caitlin took my phone.”

 

He said it with a pout and she had to laugh again. “Ok, but just one. And I am taking it with my phone. I’ll give it to you once you’re finished. Deal?”

 

“Deal,” he said with a huge grin and she put her jacket and mask back on, positioned her phone and set the timer. She stepped back and he put his arm around her, grinning at the camera. As she stared into the blinking light with a neutral expression, she wondered at his enthusiasm. It felt nice that he was so excited just to take a picture with her.

 

After the flash of the camera she took her phone back and looked at the photo. Her expression was hard and serious, such a contrast to Cisco’s huge smile. He was putting everything back into the bag and looked suddenly up at her. “If you ever come to Central we should go karaoke singing!”

 

“Karaoke? I don’t know, I’m not a good singer.” She couldn’t remember the last time someone had asked her to spend some time with her outside of work or vigilante business and she wasn’t sure if she should accept the invitation.

 

“Don’t worry, we’ll get Caitlin to come along, she’s really bad, so you won’t be alone with your bad singing,” he joked. “Besides, it doesn’t matter if you can sing or not, it’s about having fun and hanging out with friends.”

 

Friends, she liked that thought. “Sure, why not. My mother lives in Central City and I visit her whenever I can.”

 

“Great, just give me a call when you’re there,” he said. They had already exchanged numbers earlier today. “Ok, I’ll call you tomorrow when I’m finished and we can meet again at the police station.”

 

She nodded. “Thanks again.”

 

“It’s no problem, it’s kinda cool to think that you will be using my tech in the field,” he replied. “See you tomorrow.”

 

As he went up the stairs he looked back down and saw her loosening one of the many buckles of her suit. Not looking where he was going, he tripped and she looked up at the noise. “I’m okay, nothing happened,” he said as he got up, face red with embarrassment. As he hurried out he could hear her chuckle.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if they call it the Arrow cave or not on the show to be honest. The suggestion to call it the Quiver comes from the Green Arrow comics.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A long day turns into a long night when Cisco goes to Ray for help with the Canary Cry.

 

_Death is merciful, for there is no return therefrom, but with him who has come back out of the nethermost chambers of night, haggard and knowing, peace rests nevermore._

_– H. P. Lovecraft, "Hypnos"_

 

 

Cisco exited the elevator on the highest level of Palmer Tech and turned right. He had bought two energy drinks from a vending machine downstairs and was drinking one of them while the other one was in his bag for later. He was feeling tired already and he hadn’t even started working on the Canary Cry.

 

When he entered the lab he could see Ray working on the glove of his suit. He turned around and greeted Cisco with a bright smile.

 

“Hey man, how are you doing? You know, if you hadn’t told me, I never would have thought that you have been shot with an arrow,” Cisco said.

 

“Oh, I’m feeling pretty good actually, those nanites worked perfectly, and not just on my brain,” Ray replied.

 

“They sound pretty cool. I can’t believe that you experimented on yourself though. Dude, don’t you read comics or watch superhero movies? That’s how all those mad scientists turn into supervillains.” Ray raised an eyebrow at that. “Not that I’m saying that you are mad, just that most of them also seem normal and then some experiment goes wrong and, you know,” Cisco said and raised his free hand to the side of his head and made the gesture for crazy.

 

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing,” Ray said and Cisco thought, right, because they never do, but didn’t say anything. “So why are you in Starling?”

 

“I’m helping Joe - Barry’s dad - with an investigation and we ran into Laurel and she asked me if I could improve this sonic device.” Cisco said and took it out of his bag to show it to Ray.

 

“Laurel? She’s the Black Canary, right?” Cisco nodded. “How apt for someone with such a name to have a sonic weapon,” Ray said.

 

“Yeah, I thought about calling it the Canary Cry. What do you think?” Cisco asked.

 

“Sounds great,” Ray said with his usual enthusiasm, but it sounded a bit forced this time.

 

“I was at their hideout but no one was there, I was hoping you could help me out with some equipment and tools.”

 

“Sure, mi casa es su casa,” Ray said and pointed to an empty table and some shelves behind them.

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Hey, anything you need. It’s the least I can do, after all, you took a bee for me.”

 

“That sounds so silly.”

 

“It does. Even though it really wasn’t.”

 

“No,” Cisco agreed. “How come that one bee had still been operational? Shouldn’t they all have shut down?”

 

“I’ve been asking myself the same question and after looking at it, as well as some of the other bees, I have come to the conclusion that the communications system has been damaged, probably by the water. So it was still following the last command it had received,” Ray explained.

 

“Makes sense,” Cisco said and started working on the Canary Cry. The room was silent for a few moments until he asked, “Everything ok?”

 

“Yeah, why do you ask?”

 

“Don’t know, you seem more quiet,” Cisco said, looking over at him.

 

Ray put down the screwdriver he had been holding and turned to Cisco. At first he didn’t say anything, mulling things over in his mind. “I don’t think …. It seems that Felicity and I, well, it won’t last much longer I’m afraid,” he finally said.

 

“What, why? You’re the perfect couple, you are so alike.”

 

“I know, everyone keeps saying that,” he hesitated but decided to confide in Cisco. “I may have said that I loved her and she-.”

 

“Didn’t say it back?” Cisco finished his sentence, knowing where it was headed. “Maybe it was just too early and she wasn’t ready to say it back or she is unsure of her feelings. It doesn’t have to necessarily mean that she is going to break up with you.” He tried to reassure Ray but wasn’t really sure what to say. “Then again, I guess it’s better to know that there is no future with her sooner than later.” It was a bit strange to talk about Felicity like that, he always saw her as just a friend and he didn’t know how she felt or why she would be in a relationship with someone.

 

“Maybe. I guess I’m just preparing myself for the worst case scenario.”

 

“I’m sorry to hear that. Hey, at least you have made some new friends, so something good came from it.”

 

“Yeah,” Ray said with a small smile.

 

“So do you now who was impersonating the Arrow?” Cisco asked, trying to change the subject.

 

“No, sorry, I don’t know much. Felicity has kept this part of her life separate from our relationship.” Cisco sighed, so much for getting some answers tonight. They worked in silence at their respective tables for a few minutes until Ray asked, “Have you heard of the World Science and Engineering Convention? It’s taking place in Metropolis this year, sometime in late August I think. Elon Musk will be there to introduce his latest tech, some kind of revolutionary computer interface. You wanna go? I’ve been considering it, but it’s gonna be boring alone.”

 

“I’ve read something about it but I hadn’t really planned on going. Also, isn’t it hard to get tickets?” Ray looked at him with raised eyebrows as if saying ‘please, don’t you know who you’re talking to’?

 

“I can get them, it’s no problem. Oh, and guess who else will be there presenting with the NASA!”

 

“I don’t know, Steven Hawking? I think he was supposed to come a few years ago but cancelled.”

 

“No, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye!”

 

“What? Cool! Of course I’m coming with you,” Cisco said excitedly.

 

“Great.”

 

“This is gonna be so awesome,” Cisco said, happy to have made a new friend who was just as enthusiastic about science as he was.

 

“I know, right?” Ray said just as thrilled. ”You know I got the idea for the suit from a presentation two years ago, it was from Kord Industries I think…”

 

***

 

A couple of hours later Cisco got into the car and started driving back to the motel. He stopped at a red light and looking into the rear-view mirror he thought he saw something move behind the car. As he turned to take a look, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. It must have been a shadow, he thought. As he looked back at the red light he became aware that he was alone with a dead body and a shiver went up and down his spine.

 

“Ok, this isn’t weird. This isn’t weird at all. It’s just a corpse,” he said to himself as he kept driving. This is just like what they described in Inception, he thought, the more he tried not to think about it, the more he thought about it. He couldn’t stop looking in the rear view mirror from time to time, as if he was expecting the trunk to open and the corpse to come out. Or to try to get inside through the back seat. “I shouldn’t have watched that horror movie last week,” he muttered and turned the volume of the radio up.

 

By the time he got to the motel it was already half past three in the morning and the thought of sleep still didn’t seem very appealing. He remembered seeing a diner across the street from the parking lot that was open 24/7 and decided to get something to eat and a coffee.

 

He parked in the previous spot, took the bag without the Canary Cry and headed to the diner. There was a drunk couple sitting in a booth, and a single man at one of the bar stools but otherwise it was empty. He sat down in one of the booths and took out his laptop. There was free WiFi and he thought about writing an e-mail to Ronnie and Professor Stein and reading up on Ray’s nanites and his other projects.

 

By six the sun was almost out and he was sure that Joe would wake up soon, so he paid, packed his stuff and went back to the motel. Joe turned toward him when he opened the door. “Sorry, did I wake you up?” Cisco asked as he got in.

 

“No, it’s okay, I usually get up this early.” Joe looked at Cisco’s bed and then back at him. “You didn’t come back until now?”

 

“Um no, it took longer than I thought and then Ray and I started talking and you know, time flies by,” he put the bag on the table near the door and sat down on a chair. “I got hungry on the way back so I went to the diner,” he pointed with his thumb at the window behind him. “Food’s pretty good.”

 

“So you went to see Ray? What about Felicity and Oliver?” Joe asked.

 

“They weren’t there, though I did see Laurel again.”

 

Now that Joe thought about it, he hadn’t even asked how she knew Cisco. “How did she now that you work at STAR Labs?”

 

“She’s Felicity’s friend, she must have told her about me.”

 

“So I’m guessing she is part of their vigilante group? Wait, don’t tell me she’s the blond woman in black leather running around with the Arrow.” Cisco nodded and Joe wondered if this was the secret Captain Lance had been talking about. “I can’t believe an assistant district attorney would do something like that.” Cisco shrugged, “I’m sure she has her reasons.” Joe just shook his head in disbelieve as he got up and went to the bathroom. Cisco could imagine him thinking something along the lines of ‘kids these days’ and had to smile.

 

It was a few hours later when Cisco looked out the car window and at the passing landscape that his weariness caught up with him again. He was trying to prevent his eyes from closing, but it was getting harder. It was warm in the car and he felt relaxed now that he wasn’t alone with the corpse anymore.

 

“Why don’t you try to get some sleep?” Joe asked him.

 

“Nah, it’s ok, I’ll sleep at home.”

 

“Do you still have those nightmares?”

 

“Yeah, but not as often,” because he slept so little that when he finally did fall asleep his brain was too tired to dream. At least that’s what he thought was happening, maybe he should ask Caitlin about brain functions and dreaming.

 

“Why do you think you have them? Has Wells ever threatened you?” Joe asked concerned.

 

“No, no he hasn’t. The only time he had ever been mad at me was when I made that cold gun, but he didn’t threaten me.”

 

“Then what could it be? It’s strange, that you have them when you’re awake. Maybe you can see the future or something.” Joe wasn’t sure if he was joking or not, nowadays everything seemed possible.

 

“I sure hope not. Besides, why would I suddenly be able to do that?” Cisco said and Joe just shrugged.

 

He thought that Joe would say more about it, but he stayed quiet and Cisco was thankful that he didn’t ask further questions.

 

A lamp on the dashboard lit up, indicating that they were low on fuel and they stopped at the next gas station. While Joe took care of the gas Cisco got them coffee. When he came back he saw Joe hang up his phone. “That was Barry, they have a situation in Central City. Apparently there is a shapeshifter running around impersonating people.”

 

“A shapeshifter, oh man, how cool, and we are missing it,” Cisco said and handed Joe his cup.

 

“It’s not cool. He shot two cops in front of a camera looking like Eddie,” Joe said as they got into the car.

 

“You’re right, that’s not cool. Poor Eddie,” Cisco conceded. He couldn’t wait to get back and hear all about it though. Then a sudden thought struck him. “Oh no, do you know what this means?” Cisco asked, sounding horrified.

 

“What?” Joe asked and looked at him expectantly.

 

“Caitlin will probably already have come up with a lame name for him.” Cisco said and Joe didn’t know if he should laugh at his dramatics or sigh and roll his eyes for giving him a fright.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dante's back. This chapter takes place during 1x20.

 

_Now I lay me down to sleep_

_I pray the Lord my soul to keep_

_If I die before I wake_

_I pray the Lord my soul to take_

_\- Metallica, “Enter Sandman”_

 

 

 

Barry and Joe had just left to deal with the fire and Caitlin was checking the data on the monitor when Cisco’s cell phone started ringing. His heart was still racing as he looked at the caller ID. It was Dante. He had completely forgotten that he was supposed to be at his parents’ house this evening.

 

“You said you were coming over for dinner,” was the first thing the heard upon answering.

 

“I know, I am, I just got held up. You can start without me, it will take me some time to come over.”

 

“Nah, it probably won’t be ready for some time, but you should have been here half an hour ago, so I wanted to make sure you hadn’t forgotten.”

 

“…”

 

“You had.”

 

“A lot has been going on here, it slipped my mind. Are they mad?”

 

“Since making dinner is taking much longer than expected I don’t think they’ll mind that you’re late,” Dante replied and then lowered his voice, “Mom is trying something new. I still hope that she gives up and we order something in.” Their mother was a great cook, but every time she tried a new recipe it was hit or miss and the last few times had been more miss than hit.

 

“You know what, it seems like I have to stay longer and won’t be able to make it,” Cisco said, not wanting to be subjected to his mother’s weird food experiments.

 

“What? No, no, you’re not getting out of this. If I have to suffer then so do you.”

 

“Oh come on, just tell her that my boss wants me to stay longer.”

 

“I will tell her it’s because of her cooking. You do not want that, do you?”

 

“You wouldn’t.”

 

“Oh I would,” Dante said and Cisco wasn’t sure if it was an empty threat or not, but he didn’t want to risk it. “Fine, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

 

“Great, see you later,” Dante said cheerfully and hung up.

 

Cisco sighed resignedly and went to Caitlin, who was still watching the data she had gathered during his … what was he even supposed to call it? Lucid dreaming? Dreamwalking? No, it was more than that. A Vision? A Memory?

 

“Did you say I almost had a stroke?”

 

“Yes, I don’t know what would have happened if we hadn’t pulled you out in time.”

 

He just nodded, thinking that it hadn’t actually been in time as he recalled the feeling of his heart stopping. He didn't say anything though. What was the point anyway? Everything was ok.

 

“I gotta go. There’s nothing we can do from here to help Barry anyway,” he said as he put his jacket on.

 

“Are you sure? Maybe we should go back to the lab and do more tests,” she suggested.

 

“I don’t think that’s necessary, I'm fine. Besides, it’s late, you should go home.”

 

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

 

“Yeah, good night Caitlin.” He said with a small smile, which she returned, and headed toward the exit while she started turning off the monitors.

 

As he arrived at his parents’ house, he still couldn’t shake a feeling of unease. The blue coloured nightmare that had felt so real wouldn’t leave his thoughts and he hoped that being with his family for a few hours would bring some kind of normalcy into his life. But even as he entered the house he knew that nothing would be as it was before they had found out that Wells wasn’t who he pretended to be and that he could try to ignore it all he wanted, at the end of the day the facts were still the same. And to think that his home was some kind of save haven that was separate from his life at STAR Labs was an illusion that had been shattered when his brother had been used as leverage against him by Snart. He didn’t want to involve his family in any way, but after their ordeal together both he and Dante had agreed that they would try to work on their relationship, and that entailed spending more time together.

 

So here he was, at his parents’ house, in the middle of the week because they had introduced a weekly family dinner a few weeks ago. They were usually on Sundays but there had been a change of plans and they had decided to meet this Tuesday instead. This is just like on Gilmore Girls, he thought. Only that there, they got at least something out of it. He and Dante were in the living room while their mother was still preparing dinner in the kitchen. The news was on, but Cisco wasn’t really paying attention, his thoughts kept going back to the erased timeline and what had happened there.

 

“How come the Flash didn’t handle that?” Dante asked and Cisco blinked at the TV screen, seeing a news report about a robbery.

 

“We’re not always at STAR Labs to monitor the police scanners. And Barry has a day job. Besides, the police can handle things like that, it’s their job after all.” He considered how much he should tell Dante, but figured since he already knew and had asked he could elaborate a bit. “At first we were just going to deal with other metahumans that the police couldn’t handle, like that guy who could control the weather. I mean, what could the police do when the guy in front of them suddenly creates a tornado?”

 

“And what did the Flash do?” Dante asked.

 

“He ran around it in the opposite direction,” Cisco explained.

 

“You know how crazy that sounds, right?”

 

Not as crazy as finding out that your boss hasn’t actually been your boss but has years ago been body snatched by an evil speedster from the future, Cisco thought and shrugged, “When you deal with crazy all the time it becomes normal. I guess you have an outside perspective and see it differently.”

 

Dante just shook his head in disbelieve. “So what did you do in Starling City? Are you really working with the CCPD or were you actually helping out your friend the Arrow?”

 

“No, I was there with Joe, he’s a cop. It was more of an unofficial investigation, since it’s concerning a meta. We were looking for some evidence in an old case.”

 

“How can that be? Metas only showed up after that explosion,” Dante wondered.

 

“They did, we were trying to find out what happened fifteen years ago.”

 

“And why is that relevant now? What can this metahuman do?” Dante seemed curious.

 

“It’s …,” Cisco pressed his lips together, unsure of how much he should tell his brother. The less he knew about Wells the better. He had killed that reporter and Joe had also said to Captain Lance that it would be better if he didn’t know anything about the case. Dante just raised his eyebrows at Cisco’s pause. “It’s better if you don’t know.” He was pretty sure that Dante wouldn’t be satisfied with that answer and he was right.

 

“Why? Why would it be better?” Dante was persistent and Cisco just sighed. “Because it’s dangerous? More dangerous than some lunatic criminal knowing that you’re helping the Flash?”

 

“It’s just some old case. Drop it, please.”

 

“Fine, don’t tell me, whatever. I’m going to see if dinner is ready,” he replied snappishly and got up. This just irked Cisco. Why did his brother think that he had the right to demand answers when he had always been such a jerk to him? Why couldn’t he be more understanding? He had said he wanted them to be closer and spend more time together and Cisco had agreed because after what he had said to him at Snart’s house he had thought that things would be different now.

 

But people didn’t change over night.

 

He had gotten used to Dante’s remarks, though he could remember a time when they had been more teasing than mocking. To learn that his brother had spread lies about him however had been more hurtful than any of them. Had he resented him that much? Was he still jealous? Maybe he shouldn’t have agreed to these weekly meetings. But before it had been easier to avoid his family because he had found another one. After what he had learned about Wells though he couldn’t help but search for some kind of comfort in his real family, because as flawed as they were, they would never betray him like that.

 

“Cisco!” He jerked at the sound of Dante’s voice. He was standing in the doorframe and judging by the look on his face this wasn’t the first attempt to gain Cisco’s attention. “Dinner’s finally ready.”

 

“Right,” he looked for the remote and turned off the TV before following his brother to the already set table.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cisco and Dante finally work on that present.

 

_Better by far you should forget and smile, than that you should remember and be sad._

_\- Christina Rossetti, “Remember”_

 

 

It had been two days since their failed attempt at getting a confession from Wells and Eddie’s disappearance. As he had predicted sleep did not come easily and he still had nightmares of Wells killing him, just this time Joe and Barry were also there. Barry had said that he had travelled back in time and changed things. The way their confrontation with Wells – well fake Wells really – had gone just affirmed that what he saw in his dreams had really happened. Doctor Wells really had killed him for finding out too much. He still couldn’t believe it.

 

They had spent every waking hour looking for him and Eddie, but every time they tried a new approach it lead to a dead end. They didn’t know where to look anymore and decided to call it a day and get some rest. Dante had called and asked if he could come over and finally take a look at their parents’ computer, since they would be out this evening and Cisco was glad not to spend the evening alone in his apartment.

 

He was currently sitting in front of the computer, trying to turn it on, but already there seemed to be problems. Dante was sitting on the couch behind him with the laptop that he had brought from STAR Labs, creating a Skype account for their mother.

 

“So did you call Aunt Leticia?” Cisco asked.

 

“No, I called our lovely cousin Carlota and asked her to do it. She thought it was a great idea and was happy to help,” Dante answered as he typed in some data. His hands had healed and when Cisco had come in today he had been practising on the piano, having no problems with his motor activity. Cisco had been relieved to hear that. Even though Snart had said that there would be no permanent damage if treated immediately, he had still feared that there would be some impairment.

 

“That's great.”

 

“So, anything exciting happen in the last few days?” Dante asked. “Or can’t you talk about it again?”

 

Cisco mulled over his options, say it would be better if he didn’t know or just lie and say nothing had happened, because even though Wells was gone and they all knew his secret he wasn’t sure if telling other people about him was a good idea.

 

“No, just the usual, bank robberies, house fires, that kind of stuff,” he answered. Dante didn’t say anything for a while and he wondered if he believed him, glad that Dante couldn’t see his face.

 

“You’re a really bad liar, you know that?” Dante finally said and Cisco just sighed.

 

“Look, I’ll tell you all about it when this situation is over, ok?” He had turned back to look at his brother and show him that he meant it.

 

“Fine,” Dante seemed willing to drop the subject. “How’s the patient doing?” Dante nodded his head toward the computer.

 

“Not good,” Cisco answered as he shut it down and got on his knees to access the hardware. He opened the casing and took out the hard disk and hooked it up to his own laptop. It looked like there was some kind of virus on it, a pretty old one, with which Cisco’s newer software had no problems. He isolated and deleted it while saving as much data as possible. There wasn’t that much to begin with though. He copied the folder with the music and looked at the other files to see what else was on the hard drive.

 

One folder was titled ‘Photos’ and he opened it out of curiosity and clicked on the first picture. It was of him, Dante and Armando when they were kids. Cisco was maybe four years old in it. He was sitting on Armando’s shoulders while Dante stood beside them, looking up at Cisco. Cisco remembered seeing this picture years ago, not on a computer screen but in a photo album. Someone must have scanned them.

 

They never talked about Armando. They would rather pretend that nothing was wrong. He was so different than Barry in this regard. Sometimes he wondered why Barry kept bringing up his mother so often, why he kept opening that wound. People dealt with loss differently he guessed. But then again, their situations were different. Barry was still trying to find her murderer and get his father out of jail, while he just wanted to forget.

 

His eyes started stinging and watering as he looked at the other pictures. There weren’t that many, but all of them were of the three of them, only one was of Cisco and Dante when they were older. The dream came to his mind suddenly and Cisco just realised that in this other timeline Dante would be alone and his parents would have buried another child. He buried his head in his hands, trying to chase away that thought. That would have ruined his brother’s birthday even more then it had here, he couldn’t help thinking.

 

Suddenly the laptop was lifted from his crossed legs as Dante took it from him and put it beside the other one on the coffee table. “You’re taking too long,” was all he said. 

 

“We should also copy the pictures,” Cisco suggested blinking too often as he willed his eyes to stay dry.

 

“Yeah, we should,” Dante agreed as he copied them onto Cisco’s laptop. “I have an idea,” he said and took out his cell phone. “Come here,” he gestured to the place on the sofa beside him. Cisco complied and Dante raised the phone to take a picture of the two of them. “Smile,” and Cisco did with still watery eyes.

 

Dante looked at the picture, seemed pleased with it, and started transferring it to the new laptop to make this the new desktop background. “You think she will like it?”

 

“Yeah, I think she will,” he answered. “Can you send it to me too?”

 

“Sure.”

 

Cisco took his laptop again and copied the rest of the data, which was mostly text documents, and started formatting the hard drive. “Maybe we don’t need the new laptop, the hard drive is ok now. I can install a newer operating system and we can just put everything back on it.”

 

“The monitor is broken too. And the keyboard.”

 

“You could have told me this before.”

 

“What for? You’re the computer genius, you would have noticed.” Cisco just rolled his eyes.

 

“We could scan more photos,” Dante said. “I mean, it wouldn’t be so bad to have them as computer data, some of the really old ones are faded, we should try to save them if we can.”

 

Cisco nodded, “Yeah, not a bad idea. You want that to be part of the present? Cause then we would have to make sure that mom doesn’t see us doing it.”

 

“Yeah, why not. Also, I don’t have a scanner, so.” Dante shrugged as if saying ‘what can you do?’ and grinned at him and Cisco wanted to roll his eyes again. “You can just take the photo albums with you now, she won’t notice that they are missing.”

 

“Actually, I don’t have that much time, there’s a lot going on at STAR Labs, how about I bring you the scanner and you do it here?” Cisco suggested.

 

“No, that’s too risky, what if she sees it? You should definitely do it at your place.”

 

“How will she see it? Do it when she is out and put it away so she won’t see it if she comes into your room. It’s not that hard.” Cisco tried to be reasonable.

 

“I also don’t have much time, I have a concert coming up and I need to practise.”

 

“No,” Cisco stayed strong. Dante gave him a pleading look and Cisco narrowed his eyes, “No.”

 

Later that night Cisco opened his apartment door with difficulty, his hands were full with photo albums and the two laptops were hanging from his shoulders. He went straight to the living room dumped everything onto the coffee table and sofa and wondered how he had let himself be roped into doing this.    

 

Alone in his apartment his thoughts went back to the night when they had tried to get Wells’ confession and Eddie had been kidnapped. Spending the evening with Dante had been a nice distraction but now that he was alone again he couldn’t think about anything else.

 

Deciding that there was no reason to put this off, he opened his laptop and hooked it up to his scanner and printer. Maybe he would print some of the pictures and put them somewhere in his apartment. As he went to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate he thought about which one to print, maybe even the one they had taken today.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I've seen some posts on tumblr concerning the Ramon family and fandom, I wanted to say that I don't think that Cisco's parents hate him or don't love him. The last chapter was a bit harsh but it was all from Cisco's perspective and came from things he said on the show (how Dante's the favourite and that he is spending less time with them and also Dante's remark at the birthday party). I started this fic because I didn't like how things were on the show and wanted the two of them to work things out and have a better relationship, but that takes some time. Maybe it didn't come across that well, let me know what you think in the comments.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After 'Grodd Lives' Cisco talks to Joe and Dante pays him a visit.

 

_The third night, when my own loud scream_

_Had waked me from the fiendish dream,_

_O’ercome with sufferings strange and wild,_

_I wept as I had been a child._

_\- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Pains of Sleep”_

 

 

 

“What do you think he likes to eat? I mean he clearly hates bananas. I wonder if that’s because that’s what he got while he was caged or if he just doesn’t like the taste in general,” Cisco mused by Joe’s bed.

 

“I don’t know, I didn’t ask,” Joe sounded tired and Cisco just nodded at the reply, fidgeting with the device they had created to counteract Grodd’s mind control.

 

“So are you going home or staying here for the night?”

 

“I’m going home, there’s no need for me to stay here any longer. I’m just waiting for the painkillers to kick in and then Iris will drive me home.” Cisco again just nodded and put the device away. “Is there something you wanted to talk about?” Joe asked after silence had stretched between them for too long.

 

“No, I just, I wanted to see how you were doing before I go home,” Cisco said. “I’m glad you’re ok. We were really worried. First Wells turns out to be evil and then vanishes with Eddie and now you were gone as well. There was no adult, I mean, we’re also adults but, it’s different, you know? You’re much older, not that I’m saying that you’re old-” Cisco had started rambling and Joe interrupted him. “I know what you mean Cisco. It can be frightening being on your own so suddenly, but from what I saw you all managed just fine.”

 

Cisco gave him a small smile, “Yeah we did. It’s still weird not having him around. It feels so empty.” He looked around and remembered something. “I’ve been thinking. Since the police now know about metas and their abilities maybe we can turn the ones we have locked up in the pipeline over to them. Of course first we would need to make Iron Heights metahuman safe and that will take some time but at least then they could get a fair trial.”

 

“Sounds like a good idea, you know that I don’t like that you have people imprisoned here. The Captain has actually been talking about a metahuman task force that will be specialised in dealing with crimes committed by metas. I’m sure that we will need STAR Labs’ help with containing them.”

 

“I’d be happy to help,” Cisco said and thought that having access to the police’s resources could help him with finding other metas. Who knows how many people had been affected. There could be hundreds or thousands of people who have been changed by the dark matter explosion and they just didn’t know what’s happening to them. It can’t be that except for Barry only bad guys got powers. Well, there was Bette and Ronnie, and Blackout who he wouldn’t call a bad guy but someone who was driven to madness and revenge because of what had happened to him. Maybe they could have helped him if they had just known.

 

“Do you still have those dreams of Wells… you know, killing you?” Joe’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

 

Cisco shrugged, “They’re just regular nightmares now I guess.”

 

“And you’re trying to avoid them by not sleeping?” Joe asked and Cisco frowned. “You spent hours at the diner instead of getting some sleep when we were in Starling. I talked to the waitress while you were in the bathroom,” Joe explained.

 

“A cop through and through I see,” Cisco said instead of answering the question.

 

“Cisco,” was all Joe said and Cisco crossed his arms in front of his chest, shifting his weight and putting it from one foot to the other. The subject made him uncomfortable and he didn’t want to talk about it.

 

“Yeah, you’re right, I was back earlier and decided to stay there, happy?”

 

“No, I’m not.”

 

“What do you want me to do?”

 

“Talking about it helps.”

 

“Yeah, how so? They won’t stop just because I talk about it.”

 

“No, but sharing helps you to see that you are not alone in this. And if you need us, we’ll be there for you.”

 

“I know, it’s just, they’re just bad dreams. It’s no big deal.”

 

“Cisco, listen to me. I’ve been a cop for a long time and I have seen some horrible things that have also caused me sleepless nights. Getting killed by a person you’ve trusted is not something that you can just brush off. It’s going to affect you and that’s completely alright, but you don’t have to go through this alone, ok?”

 

“Thanks, I know you guys-,” Cisco was interrupted as Iris and Barry entered the Cortex and headed straight for them.

 

“Hey Joe, you ready to go home?” Barry asked and Joe nodded, looking at Cisco and wondering if he wanted to continue their conversation but Cisco just said, “I should go as well, Dante’s coming over. And thanks Joe, I’ll keep in mind what you said. See you guys tomorrow.” With that he headed out while Iris and Barry helped Joe sit up.

 

As soon as he got home he started tidying his apartment. Dante was supposed to bring more photo albums and he didn’t want him to tell their mother how messy his apartment was.

 

Only the kitchen remained when the doorbell rang. He let Dante in and took the albums from him.  

 

“Oh man, seriously? Please tell me there aren’t more.”

 

“Those are the last ones as far as I know.”

 

“Where did you find them anyway?”

 

“In the attic.”

 

“Didn’t mom notice you carrying them to the car?” Cisco asked as he went into the living room to put them on the coffee table.

 

“No, I put them in the trunk earlier today,” Dante said and went into the kitchen. He had also brought food. When their mother had heard that he was going over to Cisco’s place, she had made more for dinner so that Dante could take some of it to his brother. He wanted to put it on the kitchen table but couldn’t because every inch of it was covered in take-out bags, pizza boxes, mugs, candy, magazines, but also all kinds of electronics and other knick-knack.

 

Cisco came back in and saw him standing there, taking in the mess that was his kitchen. All Cisco could see however were the contents of Dante’s hands.

 

“Great, as if it wasn’t enough that I have to eat this stuff once a week, now you even bring it to my apartment, my sanctuary?”

 

“Hey, don’t complain, it’s your own fault. If you hadn’t mentioned that junk food she wouldn’t have given me this,” he shoved the Tupperware toward Cisco and looked at the empty take-out boxes and said, “Maybe she is right, you know. How can you eat this stuff all the time?” he looked back at Cisco, “and how come you’re not double your size?”

 

Cisco just shrugged. “Good metabolism I guess,” he said and put the food into the fridge. He looked back at Dante and remembered that he should probably offer him something to drink. It was a bit strange seeing him in his apartment and being the host, at home they would just take whatever they wanted. “You want something to drink? I’m sure that I have some juice in the fridge. Or maybe coffee? Hot chocolate?”

 

“No thanks,” Dante said and went into the living room and looked around while Cisco stayed in the kitchen to put at least the empty boxes into the trash. Dante had expected the walls to be covered in posters, but they weren’t. The only thing standing out was the bedroom door, which looked like a blue police box. Across from the sofa and the small coffee table was a huge TV screen with a sound system and the few shelves in the room were full with books and DVDs. There were two or three pictures wherever there was space in front of the books or on the worktable that was in one corner, and it looked exactly like the one in the kitchen, every inch of it was covered.

 

He looked at the various pictures, one was of Cisco and a young couple, the woman looked familiar and Dante remembered that she had been at his birthday party, Caitlin. One was of the two of them with all their cousins on their father’s side, they had taken it a few years ago at a family event, probably a wedding. Beside it a picture frame was laying face down on the table. Dante picked it up and saw again Cisco and Caitlin but this time with an older man in a wheelchair and another young man wearing the Flash costume. Dante stared. This was the Flash, the superhero everyone was talking about and he was Cisco’s friend.

 

“Do you think it wise to have this just like that in your living room?” he asked when his brother joined him.

 

Cisco took it out of his hand. “Usually the people who come here know him and it was laying face down, so.” He put it on a pile of books in one of the shelves. “And I can always say that he’s wearing a cosplay outfit.”

 

“A what?” Dante asked confused.

 

“A Halloween costume,” Cisco answered.

 

“So that guy is the Flash?” Cisco nodded. “He seems… young.” Cisco shrugged, “He is a CSI and he’s actually older than me.” He wondered if Dante would ask more questions about him and what it’s like to work with him, but he didn’t. Instead he stepped back and looked around again.

 

“Looks nice, different than the last time.”

"What difference furniture makes, right?” Cisco said somewhat sarcastically. Dante had been here only once before, shortly after Cisco had moved in and hadn’t had much of anything.

 

“Did you have a home warming party?” Dante asked and knowing his brother, he probably had.

 

“Of course,” Cisco said. Dante hadn’t been invited though, they both thought. As an awkward silence started to stretch between them Cisco pointed at the photo albums and said. “Help me with those?”

 

“I said I would,” Dante answered and Cisco turned on the scanner, which was on the floor underneath the table since there was no space on it.

 

An hour later they were done with only one album. It had taken longer than expected because they would stop and talk about the photos, the people in them and when they were taken. Since Dante was older he remembered more and was therefore the one doing most of the explaining.

 

“That’s not Uncle Camilo,” Cisco said pointing at the old picture in his hands.

 

“Yes it is.”

 

“No, you’re kidding.” Cisco said and Dante just looked back at him. “No way. He looks so different.” Dante laughed and got up from the floor and headed into the kitchen and Cisco followed him.  “I think I’ll take you up on that offer. What do you have to drink?” he asked and opened the fridge. Without waiting for an answer he took a soda and closed the door again. Before he opened it he looked back at Cisco though and asked, “Can I?”

 

“Sure, go ahead.”

 

“I don’t think doing this together is very productive, maybe it would be best if you did the rest of the photos alone,” Dante said and Cisco had to agree that it took much longer than expected, and even though he didn’t really mind that, he nodded and said that he was right.

 

“So, are you going home?” Cisco asked and realised that it sounded like he wanted him to leave. “I mean, you don’t have to. It’s not that late, we could watch a movie… or something.”

 

“Yeah, why not. I don’t work tomorrow, I can stay another hour or two.”

 

“Ok, great,” Cisco hadn’t really expected him to stay but didn’t mind either. He looked around before opening a cabinet and taking out a pack of microwave popcorn. “Here, you make popcorn while I pick a movie.” He went back into the living room and shoved the photo albums and laptop underneath the worktable and turned on the TV. Even though their last movie night has been quite some time ago, he still knew what kind of movies his brother liked and didn’t like, and kept that in mind as he selected one.

 

Dante came in and put a bowl with popcorn and his soda on the coffee table just as Cisco’s cell phone rang. Before Cisco could pick it up Dante took it and looked at the display. “Who’s Laurel? And why is there a picture of a bird?”

 

Cisco took the phone out of his hands, “She’s a friend from Starling City. Could you get me a soda as well?” he asked and indicated that he wanted him to leave while he answered the phone. He thought that Dante would stay but instead he went toward the kitchen and said, “Fine, but I want you to tell me more about her when I come back.”

 

When he returned he heard him say, “No, it’s no problem, I’m sure she will be happy to meet you. I’m telling you, every time Felicity visits she says how nice it is to have another woman around, I should feel offended really… yeah, that would be great. Ok, I’ll see you then, bye,” Cisco hung up and Dante gave him his soda.

 

“So, who is she and how do you know her?”

 

“She’s friends with the Arrow and I met her the last time I was in Starling. I made a piece of equipment for her and...,” he faltered, “And I said that if she ever came to Central City we could hang out and go karaoke singing.”

 

“Karaoke? Seriously?” the tone of Dante's voice indicated that he thought it was pretty lame.

 

“What’s wrong with karaoke? And she did call to say that she’ll come to Central next month to visit her mother and that she’ll come by STAR Labs,” Cisco said with a smile and seemed pretty excited.

 

“What’s she look like?” Dante asked and Cisco rolled his eyes. “I thought we were gonna watch a movie,” he said and took the remote control to start the film, ending the conversation. Dante just sighed and placed the popcorn between them on the sofa.

 

It was maybe an hour into the movie that Dante looked over and saw that Cisco had fallen asleep. The bowl was almost empty, neither had eaten popcorn for some time. Dante wasn’t sure if he should wake him up or not, he had looked tired and stressed so he didn’t do anything and turned back to the TV. A few minutes later Cisco woke up with a start, throwing the bowl with the remaining popcorn onto the carpet and scaring Dante who had been immersed in the film. His hand went to his chest and he was breathing hard and looking around the room seemingly disoriented.

 

“Cisco? Hey, it was just a dream,” Dante tried to soothe him and put a hand on his shoulder. Cisco calmed down as he looked at him and the hand at his chest unclenched and started smoothing down the shirt instead. He nodded, “Yeah, I know. I just… it seemed so real.”

 

“I know what you mean,” Dante said and paused the film. "Was it about the kidnapping?” he asked and Cisco nodded even though it wasn’t. At least not this time. He did have nightmares about that as well though. Every time so much worse than the reality.

 

“I have nightmares about that as well,” Dante admitted. “Whatever you dreamt about, it isn’t real. And I’m sure they will stop the more time passes.” Cisco just nodded again and started collecting the popcorn he had thrown onto the floor. Dante didn’t say more or ask any further questions because he himself didn’t want to tell Cisco more about his nightmares. About how terrified he feels in them, about that growing horror when he looks at his hands and his dead fingers or when they aim their guns at Cisco. Or how sometimes he dreams of the two of them playing in the park with Armando like they used to when they were younger. Somehow those dreams were even worse because waking up from them seemed like the nightmare that he wished to wake up from.

 

So he stayed silent as he helped Cisco pick up the popcorn.

 

“So I heard of your gig,” Cisco suddenly said.

 

“My gig?”

 

“Yeah, that concert you need to practise for,” Cisco said with a smile. “I didn’t know such a great pianist like yourself could be hired to play at a grade school concert,” he teased.

 

“Mom told you about that I see. Well, I couldn’t say no when she had practically volunteered me, you know she’s friends with the principal.”

 

Cisco nodded in understanding, “Must be a really difficult piece you’ll be playing if you need to practise so many weeks in advance.”

 

“First of all, it’s more than one piece I’ll be playing. Second, it really is difficult to play with a choir, the timing has to be right and let me tell you, when that choir consists of a bunch of small kids it can be challenging.”

 

Cisco looked at his brother and wondered who was teasing whom now. “You want more popcorn?” he asked as he got up and went into the kitchen.

 

“Yeah,” Dante said and followed him. “So how much of the film did you see?” he wanted to know. It wasn’t much as it turned out so Dante told him what he had missed while they made popcorn. After that they returned to the living room to watch the rest of the movie. 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cisco finally tells Dante the truth about Wells. Takes place after 1x22.

 

_One need not be a chamber to be haunted,_

_One need not be a house;_

_The brain has corridors surpassing_

_Material place._

_\- Emily Dickinson, “Ghosts”_

 

 

Things had been going so well these last few weeks with his family, he knew it couldn’t last forever. Cisco had come over for dinner and they had started talking about metahumans since the media had started reporting about it and how there would be a police task force and he had mentioned that he would be working with them. He hadn’t really thought about what his parents’ reaction to the news would be. His father had seemed interested and proud while his mother had kept asking questions with a disapproving tone in her voice. He had gotten defensive and exasperated because it felt like they’ve had this conversation a hundred times before concerning STAR Labs and he just couldn’t deal with this tonight. So he had stormed out of the house.   

 

He got into his car and just sat there for a moment, right hand on the key in the ignition. Before he could start the motor though, Dante opened the door on the passenger’s side and got in.

 

“You are such a drama queen,” Dante said.

 

“No I’m not,” Cisco replied and Dante almost rolled his eyes.

 

“You totally overreacted back there. What is going on? I don’t think that mom’s reaction to your new job is really what’s bothering you and you’ll regret taking it out on us once you calm down.”

 

“And how would you know that? Did almost losing your fingers give you the ability to look into my head?”

 

“No, being your brother does. We may not have always gotten along, but I’ve known you your whole life and it's pretty obvious that something’s bothering you. So what’s really going on?”

 

What was going on? A lot of things lately. The metahumans from their prison had escaped, he had to work with Snart because Barry had been adamant about needing him and of course had betrayed them and then Caitlin had lashed out at him under the influence of Bivolo’s powers. He had been so relieved when he had told her that he had locked Ronnie into the pipeline and she had said that she didn’t blame him. Now he didn’t know what to think. Had those been just empty words? Was Barry also mad at him for telling Snart his identity and just didn’t say so? He couldn’t help wondering after yesterday.

 

But those things were just the tip of the iceberg, if he was honest with himself. It was Harrison Wells, or Eobard Thawne to be precise, who was causing him to be so on edge. And now that they had captured him he would probably have to confront him again and he didn’t know how to feel about that.

 

Looking at his brother Cisco saw the determination on his face and knew he wouldn’t stop asking until he got an answer. He opened his mouth but wasn’t sure what to say and so just closed it again and looked away. They had captured Wells, what harm could telling Dante be? He was pretty sure Wells didn’t care about what his brother knew anyway. “Wells, he…,” he started but didn’t know how to go on.

 

“He’s your boss, right?” Dante tried to coax him to continue and Cisco just nodded, looking at his hands that were gripping the steering wheel. “He is…, he’s evil.” Dante just raised his eyebrows in surprise as he looked at him again. That was probably not what he had expected but Cisco really didn’t care about what his brother had been thinking.

 

“Evil? What exactly does that mean? Like in your comic books? Does he want world domination or something?” Dante’s voice had adopted a slightly mocking tone, but he still looked serious and curious, probably humouring Cisco so he wouldn’t clam up because he thought Dante wasn’t taking him seriously.

 

Maybe he shouldn’t have opened with that, Cisco thought. “No. I don’t know. Maybe. But he has murdered people.”

 

“What?” All traces of amusement were gone from Dante’s voice. “Well did you go to the police?”

 

Cisco just snorted. “What are they going to do?” At Dante’s confused look he remembered that he hadn’t told him who Wells really was. “He’s the Reverse Flash, the man in yellow.” Dante still looked confused. “He’s just as fast as Barry, if not faster. And from the future.”

 

“You’re kidding me. That’s not possible,” Dante exclaimed, not believing it.

 

Cisco pointed with a finger up and motioned around. “Crazy town, remember? Nothing is impossible.”

 

“Ok, so he’s from the future and he’s here because…?” Dante asked, trying to wrap his head around the idea that time travel was possible. Cisco just sighed, “He’s been stuck here and is trying to go back to his time, but for that he needs the Flash. That’s why he caused the particle accelerator explosion that turned people into metahumans.”

 

“He did that on purpose?” Dante whispered. He remembered the news reports after the explosion and how the number of casualties had kept rising each day. Cisco nodded, “Yeah, he new exactly what he was doing.”

 

Dante didn’t like the thought of his brother spending more time at the Lab with someone who had no scruples about murdering someone. “So, what are you going to do?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“You can’t stay there if he’s that dangerous. And isn’t there something the police could do? I mean, everyone knows about those metahumans now, he’s just one of them.”

 

“We tried that once, it didn’t work. He just incapacitated them before they could do anything. It doesn’t matter now anyway, he’s in a cell in the particle accelerator.”

 

“You were able to put him in a cell. Just like that?”

 

“Well we had some help, the Arrow and Ronnie showed up.”

 

“Ronnie? Your dead friend?” Dante asked surprised.

 

Cisco nodded, “Turns out he wasn’t dead after all. And he’s also a meta. It’s a long story.”

 

“So is this the thing you didn’t want me to know?” Dante wondered.

 

“Yes, I didn’t know if it would be safe to tell you. He killed a reporter because he was on to him,” Cisco explained.

 

“Ok, I have to admit that's not what I expected. Finding out that you’ve been working for a murderous criminal from the future must have been quite a shock.”

 

“Yeah,” Cisco said and looked down at his hands and the steering wheel again as he continued, “It’s just, he’s not just my boss. He’s- was like a mentor, he gave me a chance to prove myself at STAR Labs and helped me and encouraged me. He would hang out with me after the explosion, when everyone except Cait had left or when I didn’t want to come here and we would watch movies and, and-,” he was getting worked up and took a shaking breath to calm himself before continuing, “And he didn’t hesitate to kill me when I found out about him.”

 

“What? What do you mean?” When Cisco didn’t answer he continued, “You said you would tell me everything when it’s over and I assume with him in your captivity it is or otherwise you wouldn’t have told me so much already.”

 

Cisco took another shuddering breath as he looked up and thought, what the hell, might as well tell him everything. “You know how I said the Reverse Flash can time travel?” Dante nodded. “Well so can Barry. He travelled back in time, unintentionally and only for a day but on that day I found out who Wells really was and he… he killed me because of that.” It was so strange to say that. “But since Barry travelled back in time and changed some stuff that never happened and instead I went to your birthday party. It was a coincidence really, he didn’t even know that I had died before going back.”

 

Dante just sat there dumbfounded. “So you’re saying that if the Flash hadn’t accidentally travelled back in time you would be dead now.” Cisco nodded calmly, “Yeah, and I can still remember it for some reason.” Dante didn’t know what to say. The whole concept was hard to grasp, his brother was alive and sitting right beside him, it never happened. But then again it did or would have if it hadn’t been prevented by pure chance.

 

“And even though you knew this you decided to stay there?” he asked.

 

“Why wouldn’t I? I’m friends with the Flash, a real superhero. How can I leave him to deal with that alone?” Dante sighed and looked out of the car, of course he would stay and try to help his friend, no matter how much danger he was in.

 

But there was something else that Cisco had said that bothered him. Dante had noticed that Cisco had started coming over less often but had thought that maybe he had to work more. And in a way he did, but apparently that wasn’t the reason. Dante couldn’t believe that he felt so unwelcome in his own home that he would rather avoid them and spend time with other people than come visit them. And his petty jealousy and the resulting behaviour toward him had probably contributed to that. God, what would Armando say if he could see what had become of them, he thought. He didn’t know what was worse, finding out what he just had about Wells, or learning just how alienated Cisco felt from his own family.

 

He had promised Cisco when they had gotten kidnapped that he would be a better brother to him and after learning all this now he was more determined than ever to keep that promise. He didn’t want to imagine what the last two months would have been like if he had really died on his birthday. He couldn’t help thinking that his brother still being alive was the best birthday present ever, and he was thankful that he had gotten this chance to fix their relationship.

 

He looked back at Cisco who was also looking out trough the windshield, probably just as lost in thought as Dante.

 

“I’m really glad your friend can travel back in time,” Dante said and Cisco looked back at him with a smile. “Me too.”

 

“And I can see why you would be upset,” Dante said.

 

“Oh really?” Cisco said in a teasing tone.

 

“Yeah. That’s still no reason to talk like that to our parents though, they’ve got nothing to do with this.”

 

“I know, it’s just, there’s been some other stuff as well and I guess I let it out on you guys, I’m sorry.” Now that he has calmed down he felt silly for rushing out like that. He felt like a little kid who was throwing a temper tantrum.

 

“It’s not me you have to apologise to,” Dante said quietly. “You know why mom doesn’t like you working at STAR Labs and now with the police?” he asked.

 

Cisco shrugged, “Because it’s career suicide to work there? I mean at STAR Labs.”

 

“Well yes, that too, but did you ever think about what it was like for us when the particle accelerator exploded? You didn’t even try to call us and tell us that you were ok.” They hadn't known what had happened after the blackout. Once the power was back they had seen the news reports and had tried calling him but couldn’t get through because the cell phone network had been overloaded. Dante was the one who had finally been able to reach him and he remembered that Cisco had sounded distracted and had kept repeating that Ronnie was dead.

 

“Um, no, I had other things on my mind. Ronnie had just died and I had to stay with Caitlin, she was in shock and there were injured people that needed help and-,” he was interrupted as Dante raised a hand to silence him.

 

“I know that, but do you see why she doesn’t like you working there? Especially after seeing how Wells admitted to knowing of the possible risks and disregarding them. Your best friend died. I mean, it could have just as easily been you. She was really worried. We all were. And now you wanna work with the police to catch those metahumans. Of course she’s not happy about that, ” Dante explained.

 

“Ok, I get it, but there’s no reason for that. STAR Labs won’t do those kinds of experiments anymore, I mean our staff consists of three people now, something dangerous like that explosion won’t happen again. And I probably won’t be out chasing the bad guys with the police, just providing some tech,” Cisco said.

 

“Good. Now, how about you tell her that?” Dante asked and put his hand on the door handle indicating that they should go back **.**

 

“Alright, I guess I better do this now,” Cisco said and took the keys out of the ignition.

 

“Great, you apologise to mom, eat all the vegetables and tell her how great her cooking is tonight. And, you know, try to sound convincing this time,” Dante said as he opened the door.

 

“I’m always convincing,” Cisco said and got out of the car.

 

“Well…,” Dante just said and grimaced, letting Cisco know that he didn’t agree.

 

“Then how about we tell her the truth? If I’m so unconvincing she probably already knows that I don’t like it,” Cisco suggested as he locked the car and they started walking back to the house.

 

“I don’t know, but if you want, sure go ahead,” Dante said and shrugged. “Maybe not tonight though.”

 

“Yeah, maybe not,” Cisco agreed before turning to Dante with a big grin, “Did I tell you about that psychic gorilla we had to fight last week?”

 

“Ok now you’re just making things up.”

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, motivation has left me towards the end, but it's finished now. And the moment I'm sure you have all been waiting for is here: their mother's birthday

 

_I am the master of my fate:_

_I am the captain of my soul._

_\- William Ernest Henley, “Invictus”_

 

 

 

Their mother’s birthday party was well under way and Dante was sitting at the piano with two of his younger cousins, showing them how to play a simple melody. As he got up to let them try it he looked around the living room searching for his brother. The party looked similar to his a few months ago, he had played their mother’s favourite piece on the piano, gifts had been opened and the cake had been served. His mother and aunt were currently sitting together in front of the new laptop and it seemed like his aunt was showing her something on it.

 

Cisco had been a bit nervous before the guests had started arriving because he knew that they would all be asking him questions about the singularity. Their family hadn’t been affected by it, but they would be curious and ask questions, just like after the particle accelerator explosion. Dante had promised that he would stay at his side and try to steer the conversation away from that topic and Cisco had been glad for it. Unfortunately he had lost sight of his brother some time ago and didn't know where he was.

 

“Dante! Dante!” he looked down at his youngest cousin as she started pulling at his pant leg to get his attention. He crouched down to be at her level and asked what the matter was.

 

“Carlota says you have to come to the kitchen,” she said as she took his hand and started pulling him towards the kitchen door. As he entered he saw Carlota and Cisco. His older cousin looked exasperated and frustrated while Cisco leaned against the kitchen counter laughing.

 

She turned to him. “Dante, I don’t know what’s gotten into him, he won’t stop laughing. At first I thought he was drunk but now I’m not so sure. Can you talk to him?” Dante nodded and she took the girl’s hand and they left the kitchen.

 

“So, what’s so funny?” he asked his brother.

 

Cisco shook his head, “I don’t know anymore, I just can’t stop laughing.” Dante was reminded of a similar situation when he had been in high school and he and a friend had stayed up all night because they hadn’t finished a project on time. By the evening of the next day his friend had also been constantly laughing while he had just been dead tired.

 

“When was the last time you have slept?” he asked Cisco after he had calmed down somewhat.

 

“I don’t know. What day is it?” Cisco asked and giggled.

 

“And why haven’t you slept in who knows how long? There’s nothing so important that you couldn’t sleep for a few hours. You’ve told me that things are quiet at STAR Labs now.”

 

“You’re right, there isn’t, I just don’t wanna fall asleep.”

 

“Why? Is it because of the nightmares?”

 

Cisco nodded. “Wells keeps killing me in them. And I keep seeing Ronnie die. Again. And again and again and-,” towards the end he started giggling again and Dante interrupted him, “Okay, I get it.”

 

“And not just him but also Ray and Eddie and Wells, but he’s not Wells, he’s someone else,” Cisco kept on rambling and gesticulating with his hands like he sometimes did when he was agitated.

 

“Cisco, calm down,” Dante said and looked at the kitchen door, thankful that no one had come inside, even though it was more likely to happen the more time passed.

 

“And you know what he said when I told him about the other timeline? He said he’s not even sorry, that he probably had a good reason for killing me,” Cisco continued and the giggles turned into laughter, “I mean, he tells me I’m like a son to him and then he just… he just puts his vibrating hand into my chest.” He raised his hand toward Dante to demonstrate, “Who dies like that?” His laughter sounded almost hysterical and Dante decided that he had heard enough.

 

He took Cisco’s wrist and started towards the living room. “That’s it, I’m taking you to your old room and you are going to lie down and get some sleep.” Before he opened the door though he looked back at Cisco and said, “Try to calm down,” and took a long, slow breath and Cisco imitated him, laughter dying down to a grin, “and try to stay like that until we’re upstairs. We don’t need our relatives thinking that you’re drunk.”

 

They made it through the living room without attracting anybody’s attention and once they were in his old room Cisco sat down on his bed while Dante looked through the closet for a pillow and a blanket. He put the pillow on one end of the bed and told Cisco to lie down.

 

“You’re serious? I can’t just go to sleep in the middle of her birthday party,” Cisco objected.

 

“Yes you can, you’re seriously sleep deprived and not behaving like yourself.” Cisco looked unsure and so he continued, “You’ve talked to everyone, we gave her our present, it’s no big deal, I’ll just tell everyone you’re not feeling well. Which is true.”

 

“I don’t want to,” Cisco said barely audible and Dante could see the exhaustion on his brother’s face as all traces of the previous laughter were gone and he slumped to the side, hitting the pillow.

 

“You have to. You can’t keep going on like this, it’s not healthy,” Dante said as Cisco lifted his legs onto the bed without further protest and Dante covered him with the blanket. “I’ll be right back,” he said and left the room. “What for?” Cisco muttered as the door closed.

 

When Dante returned a short time later intent on staying until his brother had fallen asleep, Cisco wasn’t awake anymore. He quietly closed the door again and went back downstairs.

 

 

***

 

Cisco woke with a start. Disoriented he looked around and recognised his old room at his parents’ house in the dim light that was coming in trough the window. It was dark outside and he remembered that today was his mother’s birthday party, which he had mostly missed now. He thought that she had been here earlier, talking to him in a hushed voice and pushing his hair out of his face, but he wasn’t sure if it was a memory or just a dream.

 

He turned on the lamp beside the bed and realised that for the first time in what felt like forever he hadn’t had a nightmare and wondered why. Looking at the familiar surroundings he couldn’t help but think that it was because he felt safe and comfortable here. Or maybe it was because he knew that he wasn’t alone, that his family was right here. 

 

The door suddenly opened and Cisco could hear music from downstairs as Dante entered the room.

 

“I saw the light and knew you were up. Feeling better?” Dante asked as Cisco sat up and crossed his legs in front of him.

 

“Yeah, much. I don’t know why I said those things, it was so strange.”

 

Dante agreed, “Yes, let’s not repeat that.” He sat down on the other end of the bed. “You know you can’t keep doing that, right?” he asked and Cisco just nodded. He did know that but even when he tried to get some sleep he would wake up after a few hours because of the nightmares and not be able to fall back asleep.

 

“Did you have a nightmare today?” Dante asked.

 

“No.”

 

“Hmm, maybe you should stay over and sleep here more often. And, you know, you don’t have to come over only at the weekend. You could also come over on Mondays for instance. I know you and mom both watch the same TV-show Monday nights.”

 

“I guess we could watch it together, then she wouldn’t send me texts about it during the episode. She would however comment instead during the episode, I don’t know if that’s better,” he said, looking thoughtful as if seriously weighing the two options and Dante knew he would be here next Monday.

 

“So who was the other guy you mentioned? Ray? You’ve told me about Eddie and Ronnie, who is he?” Dante changed the topic.

 

“He’s the guy in the metal suit, remember? He is the owner of Palmer Tech- I mean was. The building in Starling City exploded, it was in the news.”

 

“I remember. They haven’t found a body though.”

 

“No, but there’s no way he could have survived that,” Cisco said and looked down at his hands. They had talked the day before the explosion and a few days ago the ticket to the convention they had planned on going to had arrived in Cisco’s mail. Looking at it had made him just angry that yet another friend was gone. He had crumpled it up and wanted to throw it away but couldn’t do it in the end. Instead he had left it on the worktable in the living room.

 

Dante sighed quietly, not knowing how to comfort his brother in his grief because saying he was sorry seemed so pointless. “What about your other friend in Starling? The one with the bird picture? Is she still coming to visit?”

 

“Laurel? No, she’s cancelled the trip. The Arrow is gone so she wants to stay in Starling. Which is for the best I guess, no one would be in the mood for karaoke anyway,” he said thinking of Caitlin since he had promised that he would get her to tag along. “It’s just not fair, you know. Ronnie sacrificed himself. Again. Right after they had gotten married. Caitlin’s now a widow after being married for not even a day. And, and Barry is blaming himself for everything that’s happened and is avoiding everyone. And now with Wells gone we will never get that confession to get his dad out of prison.”

 

“What confession?” Dante asked.

 

“Wells admitted to me, just before he killed me, that he had killed Barry’s mom fifteen years ago. And Barry’s dad has been wrongfully in prison ever since. We made a trap and tried to get a confession out of him by recreating the scenario that had led to him admitting it the first time, but he didn’t fall for it. He knew what we were doing and sent a shapeshifter that looked like him while he escaped.”

 

As Cisco explained what they had done, Dante got angry that his brother would be so reckless and the only thing that came out of his mouth was, “You are such an idiot!” which he immediately regretted upon seeing the hurt look on Cisco’s face. Before Cisco could say anything though he continued, “You’re telling me that you decided to recreate the circumstances that led to this guy killing you? Did you actually think this through? What if you had died this time as well? Did you think about that?”

 

“Barry and Joe were there, we had it under control,” Cisco said, surprised at Dante’s outburst.

 

“From what you’ve just told me you clearly didn’t. The guy knew what you were doing and played you for a fool.”

 

“We had to try it to get Barry’s dad out of jail,” Cisco justified.

 

“Maybe, but that’s not worth your life. How about next time you want to help your friend you find a safer way to do that? Maybe by not putting yourself in danger?” Dante said, still angry.

 

“We took precautions, if it really had been the Reverse Flash he wouldn’t have gotten near me,” Cisco tried to appease him.

 

“You know, the more I hear about what you’re doing there the more I have to agree with mom. I also don’t like that you work there.”

 

Cisco sighed. “I’m not going to stop helping Barry. I like doing this, it… it gives me purpose you know? I’m doing good things, I’m helping people by helping him,” Cisco said with conviction. Dante didn’t look happy but said, “I understand, I really do but I still don’t like it. It’s dangerous.” 

 

At this Cisco grinned and Dante asked, “What? What’s so funny?”

 

“Nothing, it’s just, your tone. You sounded like dad,” Cisco said and Dante rolled his eyes, “I’m serious, I want you to be more careful and not do something reckless like that again. Okay?”

 

“Yes dad,” Cisco replied, still grinning. Dante sighed and got up. “You thirsty? I’m gonna get us something to drink,” he asked and Cisco nodded.

 

“Why don’t we go downstairs?” Cisco asked and also got up but Dante waved him back and said, “Stay here, mom and dad were dancing before I got upstairs and I don’t want to disturb them, ’cause I’m sure the moment you come downstairs mom will be all over you asking if you’re alright. We can go downstairs a bit later.” With that Dante left the room.

 

Cisco turned his back to the door and looked at the half empty bookshelf and the books he hadn’t taken to his apartment when he had moved out. He had wanted to bring them over later, but had forgotten about it. As he looked through the titles one in particular caught his attention. It was Wells’ biography, the same one that Barry had. He took it out of the shelf and looked at the picture on the cover. Wells had been such a huge part of his life these last few years, not having him around STAR Labs had been so strange the first few days.

 

They had not thought about the long term consequences of their actions or Wells’ betrayal. Wells was gone, reported missing, and they didn’t know how long it would take until he was officially declared dead. And what would happen to STAR Labs then? Would it close down permanently? Would there be a new owner? They didn’t know for certain and he did not like to think about what the future would hold for them. The only thing that he knew was that he would work with the CCPD and the metahuman task force.

 

He should feel free with Wells gone, and yet his shadow still loomed over him and his words of an honourable destiny haunted him. The thought that he had those dreams because he was a metahuman terrified him. He hated how even now Wells’ actions still affected him.

 

He threw the book into the empty trash can. He could not change what had been done, he could not give back those powers, but he could decide what to do with them. And he would forge his own destiny.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was my first multi-chaptered fic and I want to thank everyone who has left kudos, comments and has subscribed!


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